


Karaoke

by Rahenna



Series: Spice [2]
Category: Gakuen Heaven 2 ~Double Scramble~
Genre: Developing Relationship, Karaoke, M/M, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-30 00:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15084797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rahenna/pseuds/Rahenna
Summary: It's shaping up to be a slow day for the student council, and Sonoda is desperate to find something to do as a group to avoid being alone with Joker. The solution: an unofficial double date with Yuki and Professor Sakaki at the local karaoke box. Silliness ensues.





	Karaoke

**Author's Note:**

> Contains spoilers for Gakuen Heaven 2. If you intend to play the game yourself, reading this may ruin your fun a bit. :)
> 
> If you want to know more about the Gakuen Heaven series, please visit my fansite for game translations and summaries:  
> [welcome to Heaven](http://heaven.neo-romance.net/)

**Friday, June 8, 2018**

It was one of those rare lazy days where I had absolutely nothing to do after school. The student council was caught up on all its work and had decided to skip the regular weekday meeting. I never had cooking club on the same day as student council meetings, and my evening was free with no lessons or tastings scheduled. Kiyo had spent the entire day whining about how he was going to be bored in the afternoon, the wicked gleam in his eye suggesting that he had come up with some creative ideas that definitely involved me. I'd done my best to ignore it, but when he casually leaned over in physics class to whisper exactly what he planned to do to me once we got back to the dorm, I grew desperate to find a less embarrassing alternative.

And so I came up with a plan that would not only rescue me from Kiyo's perverted scheming, but also allow me to spend time with my cousin - _and_ it would let him spend time with Yuki-kun. Win-win-win, as a cheesy business consultant would say. Even Kiyo was impressed and agreed without attempting to slap any annoying conditions on his participation. I guess he was pretty interested in watching Yuki-kun attempt to keep on lid on his excitement while hanging around with Professor Sakaki. Speaking of Yuki-kun, he'd barely managed to keep his glee under control when I told him what I had planned for the afternoon.

In short, it was the perfect after school plan. The tricky part, though, would be getting my cousin to agree. I had plenty of motivation, though; Kiyo had made vague threats about 'punishment' if I failed to secure his participation.

_Ugh, you always have to go one step too far. Would it kill you to be decent for once?!_

Anyway, I couldn't get distracted by that. I hurried to the first year classroom, praying that the professor hadn't left immediately after class. For once, luck was on my side; I spotted his familiar lab coat at the end of the hallway, and I rushed to catch up with him before he could disappear into the faculty area.

"Hey, Professor Sakaki!"

He stopped and turned toward me, eyebrows rising. "Sonoda? What, did you finally give up on struggling with derivatives and decide to humble yourself and ask for tutoring?"

I gritted my teeth. Why did every single person in my life feel like it was okay to tease me constantly? Even Yuki-kun was starting to pick up the bad habit from Kiyo. "Of course not. I'd have to _be_ struggling first before I can _give up_ on struggling, right? I'm here to ask if you have some free time this afternoon."

"Hmm, I see." The professor motioned for me to follow and set off in the direction of his office. "I don't have any pressing business, but I was hoping to get a head start on writing the questions for midterms. What do you need?"

I fell into step beside him, frowning. "Can you not ask me 'what do you need' like I'm some sort of annoying salesman?"

The professor snorted. "Well, if the shoe fits..."

I ignored him, mainly because I knew that arguing would only spur him to become more snarky. In that way, he was just like Kiyo. "Everyone in the student council has some free time this afternoon, so I was thinking we should go do something as a group. And we want to invite you along too, since you're the assistant director. It's a good opportunity for all of us to relax a bit and get to know each other better."

The professor eyed me as he unlocked his office door. "I'm fairly certain we all know each other quite well already." His voice dropped to a murmur. "If you want to go out with your boyfriend, there's no need to invite me along."

I bit my tongue, waiting until we were safely shut inside the privacy of his office before huffing, "Listen, I'm only inviting you because Yuki-kun is coming too. Do you want an excuse to spend some time with _your_ boyfriend or not?"

His smirk softened to a genuine smile at the thought. Gross. "Well, I have to admit that I'm tempted. But why karaoke? Wouldn't a restaurant be more suitable for both you and Asahina?"

"You're forgetting that Kiyo won't eat anything from a normal restaurant. Karaoke's cheap and fun, and even Kiyo can find a drink that he likes even if he doesn't want to try the snacks. And wasn't Yuki-kun in a band for a while? He's good at singing, so why not?"

Professor Sakaki plopped his books down on his desk and turned to eye me, arms folded over his chest. "You keep saying it's a student council teambuilding exercise, but you haven't mentioned Chiba even once. Don't tell me you're excluding him from this activity on purpose so you can turn it into a secret double date?"

"Do you really think I'm that shallow?" I rolled my eyes. "We asked Hayato, but he refuses to miss even a single kendo practice. Honestly, I think he just doesn't want to sing in front of anyone and won't admit it. He's probably tone-deaf."

My cousin snorted. "I don't see that stopping _you_."

"Look, I honestly thought karaoke would be a nice teambuilding sort of thing for us. It just happens to have a nice side benefit. We haven't gone out as a group since Kiyo decided to let Durak be absorbed back into the student council. Sure, we're all used to working together already, but we deserve some sort of celebration, right? And we can make it up to Hayato later."

The professor sighed, but from the look on his face, I could tell he was seriously considering it. I bit my lip, holding myself back from pressing him for an answer; if I got pushy, he'd definitely refuse. About half a minute later, he nodded. "Alright, let's do it."

I tried not to let my relief seep into my voice as I said, "Heh, I knew you'd come around, Professor."

"Even I know how to have a little fun now and then." He shrugged off his lab coat and tossed it over the back of his chair, bending to rummage in his desk drawer. "Now, where did I leave my bus pass?"

"Bus pass? Aren't you going to drive?"

"Hmph, absolutely not. I refuse to do karaoke - especially with you and Jokawa - without having a few beers, and I don't drive when I'm buzzed. And that goes double with a carload of students."

~~~

My cousin led the way to the small karaoke room, settling down at one end of the padded bench and leaning over to grab the menu from the table. Before anyone else could make a move, Yuki-kun declared, "I'm sitting next to Professor Sakaki!" and plopped down right next to him, so close their thighs touched.

The professor scowled, elbowing him. "Asahina, there's plenty of room, you don't have to sit right on top of me. Move over."

"Riiight," he grumbled, shifting to leave a more appropriate amount of space between them. He perked up again a moment later. "Oh, the menu! I wonder what I should eat..."

While that was happening, Kiyo was already crossing the room to claim the space on the other side of Yuki-kun, leaving me no choice but the last available spot, sandwiched between Kiyo and the wall. "Seriously, you guys? You can't let me sit next to my cousin, instead I'm stuck with Kiyo?"

Kiyo turned to me with a falsely sweet smile. "What, Eiji, you don't want to sit next to me?" He edged closer, rubbing his shoulder against mine.

I shoved him off. "I have to sit next to you in almost every class! Why are you so clingy?"

"Knock it off," Professor Sakaki sighed. "Asahina, how long are you going to be studying that menu? I need to order a drink before I end up truly regretting this decision..."

"Mm, but, I can't decide what to get!" Yuki-kun was looking over the menu with a hilariously serious expression. "The pizza sounds good, but what if I want a dessert too?"

"If you want more food, order it later, Asahina," the professor plucked the menu from his hands. "And don't expect me to cover the costs - that goes for all of you, by the way. I'm already paying out the nose for the room rental and unlimited drinks for you kids."

"It's not _that_ expensive," I huffed, leaning forward to eye him. "Anyway, no one forced you to pay for the deluxe package, you did that yourself. So much for 'the humble teacher's salary' or whatever."

"I've been wondering about that, actually," Kiyo mused. "Doesn't the assistant director receive a better salary than a mere teacher? After all, the Suzubishi Group is rolling in money, it would be ridiculous if they didn't compensate one of the top people at their precious specialty school properly. After all, you could just go somewhere else and get paid more to be an administrator, isn't that right, Professor?"

I raised one eyebrow. A legit question, from Kiyo? It was suspicious.

"Hmph, you're a little too observant, Jokawa. It's true, I do get paid more than the average teacher since I'm essentially working two jobs, but it's nothing extravagant. Even the Suzubishi Group has a budget. And so do I. Fortunately," he got up and headed for the room phone, "mine has enough wiggle room for the occasional spontaneous outing and a few drinks."

"If you're ordering, please order the chicken pizza for me, Professor! I'll pay for it when we leave!"

"Right, right," he waved Yuki-kun off with one hand and called in the order. He turned to me and Kiyo with a questioning look, but I shook my head. Kiyo wouldn't eat anything here, and I wasn't hungry yet. _Maybe after we get some singing in,_ I thought, reaching for the controller.

Kiyo, true to form, snatched it away a moment before I could pick it up. "Too slow, Eiji. I'll go first. Now, what should I sing...?" He scrolled through the choices, muttering to himself as he tried to make a decision, and finally settled on an older song titled _Welcome to Heaven._ "There. I expect you guys to cheer me on with all your might!"

"Ready!" Yuki-kun held up a pair of tambourines, handing one to me.

"Here I go!" Kiyo stood, picking up the mic, and began to sing. As much as I hated to admit it, Kiyo had a nice voice, and I couldn't help humming along and banging the cheap plastic instrument in time to the song. Even the professor was getting into it, clapping along with the rhythm. When he was about halfway through, I picked up the controller and made my selection, then handed it to Yuki-kun so he could pick something too.

Of course, when my turn came, Kiyo was extra obnoxious, grabbing the second mic and interjecting with random shouts or repeating my lines. It took all my concentration to keep focused on what I needed to sing. Thankfully, Yuki-kun managed to wrestle the mic from his grip about halfway through - or rather, Kiyo gave up and let him have it. Still, I silently vowed to mess him up even worse the next time he had a turn.

"Heh, not bad, Eiji. I mean, not nearly as good as me, but--"

"Oh, shut up, Kiyo! Like anyone could do a good job with you screwing around like that! And no, you can't have this," I sat on my mic, "while Yuki-kun is singing."

"You're no fun, Eiji." Kiyo pouted, but I refused to move. Well, until he shoved his hand under me, making a show of trying to get the mic while he groped my butt.

"Kiyo!" I hissed, leaping up from my seat. "Cut it out!"

"Joker-saaan," Yuki-kun whined, "please be nice to Sonoda-san while I'm singing!"

_Oh, so it's okay to torture me when you're not singing, Yuki-kun?!_

"Alright, kids, settle down. Let's at least do this the right way for the first few rounds of songs. After that, you can flirt with each other as much as you want."

"Ugh, we are _not_ flirting..."

"We're not?" Kiyo turned to me with a fake expression of shock.

"Hehe," was all Yuki-kun had to say about that, watching us with a knowing grin.

By the time everyone settled down again, our drinks had arrived, as well as a promise that Yuki-kun's pizza would soon follow. I watched, amused, as my cousin took a sip of his beer with an expression that could only be described as relief. Was hanging out with us really that bad? Maybe he was just happy for an excuse to drink on a weeknight.

I relaxed back into the cozy padded bench, feeling a sense of relief myself. How long had it been since I'd been able to hang out with a group of friends like this without attempting to hide anything from them? Sure, Kiyo was annoying, and it was kind of irritating that Yuki-kun was belting out _Happy Go Lucky_ about a thousand times better than I could sing it, and my cousin would probably end up tipsy and flirting with everyone, but... it was comfortable. All four of us could be ourselves, without pretense. Well, Yuki-kun and Kiyo were always like that, but it wasn't easy for me, and I knew the professor wasn't so easygoing until he got some booze in him.

_I guess that's why we always got along so well, right from the start._

Yuki-kun finished singing and passed the mic to the professor, who looked kind of shocked. "Asahina, where on earth did you learn to sing like that? You could give some of those hyped up idols a run for their money."

"Hehe, did you already forget, Professor? I used to be in Yagami's band, I was the vocalist! Yagami gave me lots of training, so I guess I'm pretty good!" Yuki-kun's words were modest, but I could tell that he was puffed up with pride at being praised by his boyfriend. "Now it's your turn! Impress us!"

Poor Yuki-kun was so excited at the idea of hearing his boyfriend sing that I couldn't bring myself to correct his mistaken assumptions. At least the professor was still completely sober at the moment, because when he was buzzed, he sounded kind of like a drunken goat...

"Don't expect me to live up to your performance, Asahina."

"Hehe, don't be modest, Professor! You have a nice voice, I'm sure you're great at singing!"

The professor smiled, clearing his throat, and stood. "I'll show you brats how it's done."

Except 'how it's done' was more like 'mangled an innocent song with a chainsaw and left it to bleed out on the pavement.' There was absolute silence in the room when he finished singing - if you could even call it that - which was surprising, because I couldn't remember the last time that anything had shocked Kiyo into silence. Yuki-kun's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, his innocent expectations shattered into a million disappointed pieces.

The bench creaked as the professor sat back down. "I told you not to expect much, Asahina."

Kiyo whistled. "Wow, Professor Sakaki, you really suck."

"Hmph. The whole point of karaoke is to have fun without reservations." He took another sip of his beer. "If you can't do that, then there's no point in coming here."

"W, well, you _were_ very expressive, Professor. Waving your arm around like that, and kind of dancing, haha..." I didn't have to see Yuki-kun's face to know he was forcing a smile. "So, right! You really did show us how it's done!"

Kiyo leaned over to whisper in my ear, "Why can't _you_ be a nice, supportive lover like Yuki-kun, hm?"

"Because _you're_ not a nice, supportive lover like Yuki-kun, that's why."

We were rescued from the impending argument by the appearance of another staff member, this time with Yuki-kun's pizza. It was just cheap frozen pizza, little more than soggy cardboard topped with flavorless cheese, but Yuki-kun welcomed its arrival with an enthusiasm that rivaled his joy at eating the special dishes in the cafeteria. Honestly, it was kind of annoying.

Yuki-kun saw me staring at the greasy food and somehow misinterpreted my expression of disgust to be one of longing. "Sonoda-san, are you hungry? You can have some too! Oh, please wait!" He waved at the bored-looking young woman who had brought the snacks. "Can I make another order? I'd like the chicken fingers with all the dipping sauces, and popcorn, please! Oh, and a bottle of green tea too!"

The girl's eyes widened a little, but she nodded. "Sure, I can put that order in for you. I'll bring some extra plates so everyone can share."

Yuki-kun shook his head. "We don't really need any plates."

"Okay..." The girl looked like she wanted to protest, but her sense of customer service won out. "Got it, I'll go put this order in right away then. Have fun singing!"

"You aren't _really_ going to eat all that by yourself, are you, Asahina?" Even the professor seemed surprised. "That pizza barely qualifies as food, and I can't imagine that the chicken is much better. Wouldn't you rather wait and have something nice later?"

Yuki-kun ignored the first part of his comment, latching on to the possible implications of the second half. "Hehe, are you offering to take us somewhere nice after this, Professor Sakaki?"

"Absolutely not. I can't afford to feed a bunch of teenage boys, especially one that seems to be a bottomless pit. But we'll be back at the school before the student dorm cafeteria closes." His smile twisted a little. "Or are you tired of curry?"

"No, I love Dora-chan's curry! So I'll eat that too when I get back!"

All the amusement was gone from my cousin's voice as he sighed, "Asahina, you're going to get fat."

_I wonder if that's something he's worried about. Once Yuki-kun gets older and his metabolism slows down, is he gonna balloon? What if the professor can't find his junk anymore? Hell, what if Yuki-kun can't find it?!_

"Seriously." I made a face. "Ugh, Yuki-kun, you really could end up huge..."

Kiyo threw his head back and laughed. "Ahh, Yuki-kun, you're the best. You're just like a big puppy, with the big appetite to match."

Somehow getting teased by Kiyo was enough to tip the mood over the edge, and Yuki-kun finally had the decency to look a little embarrassed. "H, hey, don't you tease me too, Joker-san! I wasn't planning to eat it all by myself, I want to share! But we don't need extra plates, we're all friends, right? We can just share from the big plate... or does that bother you guys?" He made a face, suddenly unsure of himself. "Maybe I should have asked for the plates..."

Geez, even when he was being a little glutton, Yuki-kun was still so considerate. "That's very nice of you, but I don't think any of us are really interested in karaoke box food. It's too bland for Kiyo, and you know Professor Sakaki and I prefer quality stuff."

"Oh. Well, that's true..." Yuki-kun's face fell, and guilt stabbed at me. He perked up again almost immediately. "If there's any leftovers, I can bring them to Tomo! And Sonoda-san, it's really sweet that you're so considerate of Joker-san."

His smile was too warm, too knowing, and I felt my face turning red. Kiyo glanced at me, a familiar smirk on his lips. "Shut it, Kiyo!" I snapped, jumping up from the seat to enter a song and get back into singing before he could spout more embarrassing crap.

"Let's make it a duet," the professor offered, taking up the second mic.

_Ugh, do you have to butt in?!_ I didn't have the heart to tell him to back off, so I just went with it.

By the time our song was over, Yuki-kun had managed to scarf half of the pizza. His cheer was completely restored by the snack, and he accepted the mic with enthusiasm. We all took turns singing, mostly solo but a few duets, supported by the clapping and instruments of whoever wasn't in the spotlight at the moment. Yuki-kun demolished a surprising amount of food, with a tiny bit of help from me - hey, even I could be tempted by cheap chicken fingers once in a while - and my cousin consumed an equally surprising quantity of beer.

Which meant it wasn't all that surprising when he started getting overly friendly with all of us, especially Yuki-kun. He didn't seem to mind when Yuki-kun started inching closer to him on the bench; in fact, he silently encouraged their increasing closeness. There was nothing blatant, but all the little things were starting to add up: letting their shoulders rub together when he leaned over to pick up his beer, laughing too loudly at Yuki-kun's comments, patting his knee in encouragement while he sang. Of course, Yuki-kun ate up all the extra attention happily, positively beaming as his lover doted on him.

I watched them, trying not to frown too obviously, though my heart was racing. "Ahem, Professor, maybe you should switch to water after you finish that."

He glanced at me with a crooked smile. "Oh, hush, Sonoda. I never get to have any fun, let me relax for once in my life."

His speech wasn't exactly slurred, just a little wobbly, and anyone who didn't spend a lot of time listening to him talk wouldn't have noticed. Of course Kiyo could tell, since he'd been in the professor's class for over two years now. He bumped his knee against mine, leaning close to murmur, "Seems like your cousin's getting a little buzzed."

"No kidding," I grumbled. "I don't like it... I'm sure he's got enough sense to not be all over Yuki-kun in a semi-public place, but he shouldn't let his guard down like that around other people."

Kiyo shrugged. "Who cares? Who here is going to go tattle on them?"

He had a point. But it wasn't good for either of them to get used to smiling at each other like that. If you wanted to say that Yuki-kun was an open book, then his face was definitely a romance novel. As if to prove my point, he suddenly giggled, cheeks pinking as he leaned toward the professor. "Hehe, Professor Sakaki, you don't have to keep praising my singing like that..."

"Besides," Kiyo's voice dropped lower, "you're reading too much into everything they do because you already know about their relationship. Anyone else would assume Professor Sakaki is the kind of guy who gets a little too friendly when he's had a couple of beers. No one would think anything of it."

I tried not to grit my teeth. Kiyo was right. A casual observer would lay the blame on the alcohol and say it was inappropriate for the professor to let students see him get tipsy. Still, I couldn't relax, mind racing with the possibilities of what might happen if someone watched too closely and decided to go digging around for information.

"Eiji. Stop overthinking everything." Kiyo's lips brushed my ear. "It's annoying." 

I scooted away. "You're the annoying one! Stop getting up in my personal space!"

"Your personal space is my personal space. We're lovers, after all."

My heart skipped a beat. "Don't say that so loud!"

Suddenly I felt the weight of eyes on me; Yuki-kun had turned away from the professor to focus his attention on me and Kiyo, a gentle, knowing smile on his lips. My shoulders stiffened, and I looked down before he could make eye contact. "Damnit, Kiyo," I growled.

Still, I felt relieved and, if I was completely honest with myself, a bit grateful. Kiyo wasn't just trying to irritate me, though that was part of it. He'd recognized that I was getting genuinely uncomfortable with the thought of my cousin and Yuki-kun relaxing their guard too much and flirting in a semi-public space, and had spoken out to create a distraction. And my dignity was the sacrifice - one that Kiyo was all too pleased to make.

"Hehe, Sonoda-san, are you blushing?" Why did Yuki-kun feel the urge to point it out every single time someone was blushing or crying or otherwise overwhelmed with emotion?

"No!" I snapped, well aware that my face was bright red. It probably clashed horribly with my hair.

"Why are you blushing, Eiji?" Kiyo's tone was saturated with fake innocence, which only made me want to punch him more. "Everyone here knows, right? So it's not a big deal."

I didn't know what to say. If I protested, Kiyo would amp up the false sweetness, which would make Yuki-kun side with him. And Professor Sakaki would interject with some sort of snide remark, probably something about how I'd come crying to him about relationship problems, and how denying it in front of everyone was proof that I was a mess. But if I admitted to being in a relationship with Kiyo, Yuki-kun would be the one with something embarrassing to say.

In short, my only choice was to stay quiet and pray that everyone else would do the same.

"Sonoda." My cousin leaned forward to peer around Yuki-kun and Kiyo, his expression more lucid than I'd expect from a man who'd had four beers. "Why deny it? You're among friends here. You should treasure the relationships you have without worrying about what other people think."

_Big words from a guy in a secret relationship with a student! Well, I guess that's why, though..._

I must have made some sort of face, because the professor sighed. "Don't look at me like that, you know I'm right. There's nothing wrong with being embarrassed, but once that crosses the line into shame, it's a problem. Trust me, you don't want to let outside pressures control your life, or prevent you from being close to others." He paused, expression growing distant and maybe a bit wistful, then added, "You never know when you'll run out of time."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. The previous director, that had to be who he was talking about. I hadn't really known him myself, but I knew he and the professor had been very close. So close, in fact, that the plan for Durak to snatch control from the student council had progressed at a snail's pace while he was still alive, probably out of respect for the friendship. The professor had changed after his death, his usual harshness intensifying to a level that surprised even me.

My eyebrows rose as a thought hit me, one I wouldn't have considered before. Had Professor Sakaki and the previous director been an item? Or if not that, maybe there'd been a one-sided attraction, strong enough to override his desire to win his family's approval?

I made a mental note to ask him about it later. For now, I had to laugh off his overly serious warning before it completely ruined the mood. "Heh, is that another nugget of adult wisdom out of you?"

If the professor noticed that my heart wasn't quite in it, he give no sign, and simply nodded. "Yes. Honestly, I should be charging you brats for these words of wisdom. I had to learn the hard way, but I'm giving you the easy way out."

Kiyo leaned forward, turning toward him. "Professor Sakaki, you should write a book with all these pearls of wisdom. You could call it _Don't Follow My Bad Example_ or something similar."

Even my eyes widened at that one; sure, we were all hanging out casually, but the professor wasn't going to put up with that much sass. But to my surprise, he just laughed. "Heh, maybe I should. I'll even dedicate it to you and Sonoda."

I guess sass was fine as long as he had the opportunity to snark right back.

Yuki-kun giggled. "Professor, if you wrote a book, I'd buy ten copies!"

"Hmph, flattery won't get you anything, Asahina. I still expect you to study hard and get a decent grade on next week's test. You just barely squeaked into the hard class, you know, so you'll have to keep proving yourself if you don't want to get demoted to regular."

I snorted. "Yeah, right, as if you'd actually do that."

"Whaaa? We have a test next week?" Yuki-kun looked like he was about to explode. "Seriously?!"

"Yes, seriously," my cousin sighed. "Why did you think we were reviewing the last two chapters in class today, for the fun of it? I'm helping you kids prepare for the exam."

"Don't worry, Yuki-kun," Kiyo patted his knee. "I'll help you study."

"Really, Joker-san? That would be awesome!" He pressed his hands together in front of his chest as if he was praying. "Please help me!"

"Of course. We can't have the student council president failing out of the hard level math class." Kiyo nudged me. "Eiji can help too, you know, we're both in ultimate."

"Well, isn't that heartwarming, Asahina? Your friends in the student council will support you." The professor took one last sip from his nearly empty glass. "And if you need some last minute tutoring, I suppose I could find a way to squeeze you into my busy schedule."

I rolled my eyes. _I'm pretty sure you'd cancel every last thing on that schedule if it meant spending more time with Yuki-kun..._

Before Kiyo could open his mouth to offer yet another snappy response, the phone on the wall rang. Was our time up already? I got up to answer it, and the staff member on the line confirmed that our time had run out, then asked if we'd like to extend our stay.

"No, we're done, thanks. We'll clear out right away."

"Aww, we can't stay longer?" Yuki-kun pouted at me.

"You're the one who wanted to get back before the cafeteria closed," I pointed out. "And besides, I don't think the professor's wallet can handle any more snack orders or time extensions."

"That's right," he confirmed, standing and checking his watch. "We have about twenty minutes before the next bus arrives, so let's get a move on. I don't want to wait an extra half hour if one of you ends up lagging behind."

"Hey, don't look at me when you say that!" I snapped, scowling at him.

He just laughed, motioning for everyone to follow him from the room.

~~~

Of course, the seating arrangement on the bus ride back to the school ended up being the same as our trip out: the professor and Yuki-kun seated next to each other, with me and Kiyo directly behind them. In other words, just enough privacy for Kiyo to torment me without anyone noticing. He let himself spill over into my seat without any hesitation or shame, leaning heavily against my shoulder.

"Ugh, Kiyo, don't be clingy on the bus. This is a public space."

"There's no one across the aisle from us, so it's fine." His eye glittered with mischief. "Why, are you embarrassed again, Eiji? I never expected you to be so cute and modest."

I rolled my eyes and attempted to shove him off of me, but Kiyo just ground his shoulder into mine, grinning. I gritted my teeth. "It's because you keep acting stupid in front of other people."

"I just told you, no one's watching." His hand rubbed my knee, sliding up my thigh, and I jerked away before he could get dangerously close to questionable areas.

"Kiyo! I'm not asking you, I'm _telling_ you, cut it out!"

He pulled back with an exaggerated, exasperated sigh, folding his arms over his chest. His tone was frosty as he muttered, "You really are annoying, Eiji."

"Look," I sighed, taking pity on him, "you just have to wait until later, when we're alone."

Kiyo glanced at me, a ridiculous pout on his lips. It was a cute expression that would have suited Yuki-kun much better. "Fine. But I expect you to make this up to me with a _nice snack_ later."

My face grew hot in an instant. "S, shut up..."

"Hmm?" Kiyo gave me a look of wide-eyed innocence. "Why are you blushing? I just wanted some blini. What were _you_ thinking about, Eiji?"

_Like hell you weren't implying that._ "Nothing."

Suddenly his lips were at my ear. "I expect _that_ snack too, you know..."

His irritating laugh set my face on fire, and I was extremely grateful that no one else could see us. Except that Yuki-kun chose that exact moment to peek over the back of the seat. "What's all that noise? Huh, Sonoda-san, your face is all red, what happened?"

"Asahina," I heard my cousin's faint reply, "leave those two lovebirds alone."

I made a face as Kiyo laughed, but bit my tongue to keep a sharp retort from slipping out. Anything I said would be more fuel for the fire, and I wasn't going to allow him the satisfaction. Of course, that meant we would spend the remainder of the ride back to the school locked in a battle, with Kiyo doing his utmost to provoke an outburst, and me trying to hold back a snappy reply. After a few minutes of the silent treatment, Kiyo decided to resort to physical annoyance, his hand creeping over into my seat. I glared at him, silently daring him to make a move. 

And he did, cold fingers wrapping around my hand, squeezing gently. I glanced up, surprised, and his eye met mine. Kiyo smiled then, nothing like his usual shit-eating grin, but a soft and genuine smile that made my hair stand on end.

Even worse, he mouthed _I love you_ at me without a trace of insincerity.

I looked away sharply, face hotter than before. And though I stared out the window for the rest of the trip, absolutely refusing to meet Kiyo's gaze, I let him hold my hand the entire way.

~ end ~


End file.
